In a recent video published by researchers to show how the
technology works, an actor sits in front of a camera moving his face. The
computer then generates the same expressions in real time on an existing video
of Barack Obama. When the actor shakes his head, the former president shakes
his head as well. When he speaks, Mr. Obama speaks as well.

Prof. Christian Theobalt, part of a team working on the
technology at the Max-Planck-Institute for Informatics in Germany, said he is
motivated by the creative possibilities that it holds for the future.

He said researchers have developed forensic methods to
detect fakes.

But Prof. Farid says researchers who push computer-generated
technology need to think about the consequences these computer-generated fakes
could have for society. He believes forensic experts are being outpaced by the
development of fakes and that there is no method yet that can detect them all.

“How are we going to believe anything anymore that we see?
And so to me that’s a real threat to our democracy,” Mr. Farid said.

In the video above, WSJ’s Jason Bellini explores this world
of realistic video fakes. He gets deepfaked himself, and thanks to a
deep-learning application, he can now dance like Bruno Mars. He also learns of
the dark side of this technology, through one victim whose life has been deeply
affected by deepfakes, and why others believe they could even lead to war.

I am grateful to a friend for drawing my attention to the above report and
video. It’s not the tech that should concern us. It’s the owners of the tech and
the moral and ethical truth they control with it that we should be very
concerned about.

Deepfakes are to truth
what makeup is to beauty. Both are tools of deceit and manipulation.

Truth, especially truth
telling or truthfulness, used to be a moral matter parents taught children
without much difficulty, and something politicians made an effort at being. Or,
something philosophers esoterically debated.

I know, perjury, fraud,
white lies happened, still do and always have. But, it was not too long ago
that most everyone pretty much knew what truth was, whether they were adhering
to it or not.

Not anymore. Massaging
or disguising the truth is now more valued in US society than being genuinely
truthful. No surprise. It’s follows from the mainstream view of the American
economy, especially those favoring consumer crony capitalism – whatever the market
will bear; let the buyer beware! One could say that what has happened to
truth is an example of morality following the money. Let’s put it this way: You
want to know what happened to the truth in America? Follow the money!

February 16, 2019

A
friend asked what I as an ethnographer, a student of Humankind, make of the
cult reported on in the above video. My answer: “Batshittery americana domesticus, anthropologically speaking.”

This
genus, species and subspecies belongs to the taxonomic family of religious
cults and other beliefs and practices that have failed to find a place in mainstream
American life. Such cults and their beliefs are not in a dustbin with similar
nonsense the likes of which are never to be seen again. This one and its sundry
mutant variants await us in a holding pattern in the Ethnosphere.
Awaiting what? Awaiting their chance to rejoin us and hopefully get into the
mainstream of American thinking. That is, as a new and improved human-made supernatural
myth to propel us further toward our place in Abrahamic heaven.

But,
shockingly (well, not too shockingly), such bizarre approaches, in all spheres
of human life, have become more highly feasible options for Americans in recent
years. That is, as we careen toward full national batshittery under the
pastoral presidential leadership of God’s current anointed one, Junior Jesus
Golden Hair.

“This, then, is the post-American world.
Not one marked by Chinese dominance or Asian arrogance. Not an outright
anti-American one, but one in which many yearn for a greater U.S. presence. One
in which countries are freelancing, narrowly pursuing their own interests, and
hoping that the framework of international order remains reasonably stable. But
with no one actively shoring up the international system, the great
question remains: In a world without leaders, will that system over time weaken
and eventually crumble?”

This is the Gloom and Doom Fareed. Below
is an essay a week later where he comes on as Mr. Sunshine and Hope. In both
essays he ignores the fatally flawed, thousand pound gorilla in the room – consumer crony capitalism.

Now, let’s consider the above, his first
essay.

Regrettably, the US is not withdrawing
from world leadership because it believes the system is flawed and it is looking for a
more sustainable, equitable way forward. We, our current leaders, are
withdrawing because they (wrongly) believe their nationalist power, wealth and
world hegemony can be increased and more assured by going it alone.

Trump, his GOP generally but not all, claim
and reassure their patrons and voter base with this ill-founded notion: “It’s a
social Darwinist* world out there! No more operating as one nation among equals.
We shall take the lead, dominate through economics and military threat and force,
and let all others fare as best they can in our wake. The only globalism** we adhere to
is one where the U.S. economically dominates but allows political spheres of
influence among its adversary nations. Globalization for us is
a very flat pyramid of the world’s nations with the U.S. at the apex. So help us God!"

This national versus international approach
is an analogous, individual-weighted take on the individual-group dynamic, the
most fundamental aspect of being human. We recently looked at this dynamic in
depth at Owl & Ibis – A Confluence
of Minds, through my presentation of The Evolution of Western Individualism, Part
I and Part
II. To analogy being made here is between the individual-group dynamic and a nationalism-globalism dynamic now favoring nationalism.

From a consideration of prehistory, history
and current events O&I concluded that a political and economic approach skewed
in either direction - one favoring sustained, hardline, libertarian, individual freedom
or one that favors fascism, slavery, group dominance - is not better for human wellbeing and
flourishing than a sustained balance between the two. That, since the origins
of agriculture and urbanization the balance has shifted back and forth between favoring collectivism then favoring individualism. O&I believes there is a deep need among most of Humankind, something fundamental to our cultural nature, to ensure that one
approach does not dominate the other indefinitely.

Here's another aspect of that same human nature, something contradictory:

January 26, 2019

People
often refer to our “political leaders” here in the U.S. when in fact they are
“followers.” They follow, in descending order: their wealthy patrons; the polls
and votes of the people; and activist groups that are powerful enough to
threaten their money, polls and votes.

Democrats
are the lesser of two evils. Both major parties are “broken.” That is, broken
to the bit and saddle of crony-consumer capitalism. Voting is a necessity. But
the only real power the people have to influence politicians to do humane, responsible
things beyond what serves the wealthy and powerful, can only be had through activist
groups that vie for control of the saddle and bridle.

Power
to the people! Power to support progressive, non-political groups that take the
politicians by their vote-sniffing noses and pocket books, and make them do the
will of a reason- and evidence-informed, activist public!

I
support the following efforts in my home country and globally:

Bringing about greater economic, social and legal equality

Improving the quality and spread of cross-cultural, science and critical thinking education

Strengthening the protection and conservation of the environment

Assisting refugees

Reducing racism and diversity intolerance

Strengthening globalism over nationalism, pluralism over theism and tribalism

I do so by making recurring financial
contributions, monthly where possible, to the following organizations. I kindly
ask you to join me in supporting these and other similar groups. JEL

“AAAS works to advance science
throughout the world for the benefit of all. We advocate for STEM
access for students and for diverse, inclusive workplaces. We
promote science’s place in our national conversation and evidence-based
policymaking. And on the topics that matter—like climate change, habitat
loss, and species extinction—we fight to make sure the experts have a say.
Help us:

Advocate for science's place in society and policy making

Build and strengthen a diverse and inclusive community of science professionals and enthusiasts

January 13, 2019

“And
thus, a few years later, was Green Acres Village born, first as a neighborhood
garden, and then fully fledging as a potent little human community in communion
with our Mother Earth. It has been evolving, organically, for over decade now,
starting on the mental plane in 2007, when I took the permaculture design
course, and was astonished to recognize in its principles real hope for a
transformed world...

“It was just then, just when I had
worked my mental/emotional system into a frenzied intensity, that I heard a
little voice in my right ear: ‘No need for that. Just change perceptions in
your neighborhood.’”

Here’s some folks doing
something other than violent revolution or trying to reform our dead-end,
powerful and wealthy-controlled way of living. They see what’s coming, like
what happened in Cuba when the USSR collapsed and cut the Cubans loose.

“But if TED and the 19th century lecture circuits—the new lyceum and the old—can offer us anything, it’s a reminder that science and research offer more than new knowledge. They come with a kind of aesthetic, and they invoke certain emotions—among them thrill and hope. ... [A] certain fuzzy optimism takes hold. There’s a promise here that would be familiar, I think, to anyone who’s been moved by a great motivational speech or sermon. It’s a sense that, faced with the grind of daily life, and the intractability of its problems, somehow, through some flash of understanding, the basic terms of our struggle will change.”

“Thrill?” I’ll pass. “Hope?” Okay, but not based on “fuzzy optimism” or “somehow” or “some flash of understanding.”

I am not dark, gloom and doom, or nihilistic. I am not a hedonist or an Epicurean. I am a realist, skeptic and flawed practitioner of Stoicism. I am only optimistic and have hope when there are reasons and evidence for being hopeful.